NORTH PORT — Turning a school into a storm shelter is a team effort.
North Port High School Principal Shannon Fusco said she and other team members will work day and night to prepare and staff one of the largest storm shelters in the region for Hurricane Helene, which is expected to bring strong winds and rain as it moves through the Gulf of Mexico off Florida’s west coast Wednesday night and Thursday.
NPHS welcomes people from all over the region due to its immense size. Most come from North Port or Charlotte County.
Not NPHS’ first storm“Unfortunately, this is not our first time,” Fusco said on Wednesday afternoon.
But because of that experience with storms, staff at NPHS know what they are doing.
In fact, setting up the shelter does not take as long as you would think, according to Fusco — even though school was just in session Tuesday afternoon, the day before setup.
She said North Port team members came in at 7 a.m. to get to work. County team members came in later to assist. By 11 a.m. on Wednesday, I’s were being dotted and T’s crossed. The stage, or shelter was set.
They opened their doors to those in need at noon.
In the past, Fusco said, the school has welcomed thousands of people and pets. Larger storms, of course, means more people.
The hopes for Helene are that many will not have to utilize the assistance of NPHS or other shelters.
But if need be, the facilities are there.
NPHS, for one, accommodates around 2,600 students, according to Fusco, so a high volume of people can be handled by the school.
Fusco told The Daily Sun about NPHS’ system to keep everything in order.
When a storm is smaller, they try to keep things in one building, consolidating people into a smaller area so there is less to clean after the fact.
Longer cleanups can cause delays to the school going back in session.
But to give people their own space, assigned spots are staggered — one party or person goes to one classroom, then the next person will be sent to another in the same building. That gives people as much personal space they can have, while still keeping people in as few areas as possible.
NPHS first opened Building 5 and the classrooms in it. That building is close to the gymnasium.
If building 5 fills, they will then make efforts to keep people on the same side of campus, in efforts to consolidate.
The gym and the Performing Arts Center on campus are actually not used as shelter space anymore, according to Fusco.
So instead, people are sent to the sturdier classrooms. In them, they will be next to desks and chairs stacked up against a wall to preserve floor space for people to sprawl.
People are required to bring their own supplies. But Fusco said NPHS helps where it can.
“We will make every effort,” she said.
All Faiths Food Bank chipped in at NPHS and various shelters in Sarasota County, bringing food for people taking refuge, including ready-to-eat meals, or MREs.
Other than that, though, people more or less have to fend for themselves.
One of those people doing so was Roy Maldononado.
‘We’ve had enough’Maldonado had his belongings in two trash bags. He carried them to Building 5.
One of them had a pillow of his. He was the first to arrive around 1 p.m., and is the only member of his family who took refuge at a shelter.
That’s because the rest of his family actually left the state, escaping to New Hampshire.
“After what we went through with Ian, I don’t want to do it again,” he said.
But he stayed in town to keep an eye on the house from a couple miles away as opposed to more than 1,000. An app on his phone lets him. If something of concern comes up, he can go and address it.
But in the meantime, he will be safely tucked away in Building 5.
As Ian raged on outside of their home, located in an area off Sumter Boulevard, Maldonado and his family hid in a walk-in closet for 10 hours straight.
A hole in their ceiling allowed them to see the wrath of Ian above them.
Maldonado said he has post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety. They are worsened from the storms.
He said he and his family are done with storms and are going to put their house on the market when Helene is over with.
“We’ve just had enough,” he said.
Learning from experienceMeanwhile in Charlotte County, two shelters were opened in the Port Charlotte area as residents awaited tropical force winds and possible storm surge.
One was located at Kingsway Elementary School on Quasar Boulevard, where students were dismissed at noon.
Staff began unloading supplies less than a half-hour after students were gone.
The other shelter is at the Harold Avenue Recreation Center, with the building being transitioned to a temporary living space for county staff and shelter residents.
Mark Ainscoe, a park employee, made certain to take down the building’s U.S. flag and store it ahead of the storm.
He said he felt prepared for what was coming, especially after seeing tiles fly off the roof of the building during Hurricane Ian two years ago.
“Pretty scary,” he said.
Both shelters began taking in county residents around 1 p.m. Wednesday.
Local News
